'Horrible Bosses': The 6 Worst Workplaces In Movie History

Be glad you don't work at any of these places.

In Horrible Bosses, coming to DVD on October 11th, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day have bosses that are so, uh, horrible, that the group hatches a scheme to murder them. Unbeknownst to the characters, they're actually operating within a common cinematic setting: the horrible workplace. Don't believe me? Here are six of the worst workplaces in movie history.

Metropolis

Next time you want to complain about work, just remember how bad the "employees" in Fritz Lang's science fiction classic Metropolis have it. They work like slaves in an underground civilization at the will of their wealthy overlords. The only entertainment they get is the occasional herky-jerky robot girl dance.

The Apartment

This movie will probably seem a bit truer to the real workplace experience than Metropolis. No robot girls here, just an environment in which getting ahead is more important than being a decent human being. In the case of CC Baxter, this means giving over the keys to his apartment to his bosses so they can use it to have sex with women who aren't their wives. As if that wasn't enough, Baxter's in love with the elevator girl who's in a toxic relationship with his horrible, sleazy (and married) boss. Bad work environment!

Traveling from Earth to the moon to various other points in space may be easy in 2001, but it's still a pain in the ass. The toilet has a set of instructions with like 12 steps, and the "food" can all be drunk through a straw. Oh, and your boss is a homicidal computer with a creepy glowing red eye. Murdering your boss would be justified, in this case.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

"You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!" -Not a line from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Working in this movie's mental asylum that's actually more like a metaphor for life basically makes you a professional oppressor and dream-crusher. And your Darth Vader-like boss who goes by the name of "Nurse Ratched" might make you WISH you worked for Darth Vader. At least Darth never goaded a beloved mental patient into suicide by shouting at him about his mother.

Black Narcissus

Here's a field of work you might not have considered: Being a nun. In Black Narcissus, the pressures of working for the ultimate horrible boss, God Himself, are too much for one nun, who goes insane, smears on some bright-red lipstick, and tries to push one of her fellow nuns off a cliff. The last time I had a bad day at work I just whacked the vending machine extra hard.

Office Space

Might as well end the list with a shocker, right? It's safe to say you're already familiar with Gary Cole's performance as Bill Lumbergh, the archetypal horrible boss. He has that kind of passive-aggressive demeanor that makes you want to punch him, if not actually plot his murder. It might be better just to set fire to his office in the middle of the night, though. Especially if he stole your stapler.